Stage Blanquefort - Bordeaux

A short and entirely urban stage, which takes the pilgrim into the heart of Bordeaux. From Blanquefort the route is flat and runs along streets, avenues and a few landscaped stretches of the northern outskirts, with no difficulty other than the tarmac.

The route crosses the communes of Bruges and Le Bouscat. In the former lies a marshland nature reserve, the last vestige of the great wetlands that once surrounded the city. Little by little the low stone houses, the typical Bordeaux échoppes, announce the nearness of the centre.

The traditional pilgrims' entrance passes the basilica of Saint-Seurin, built over an early Christian necropolis. The Codex Calixtinus recommended venerating the saint's relics here, and the church forms part, along with the cathedral of Saint-André and the basilica of Saint-Michel, of the Bordeaux monuments inscribed on the World Heritage List as landmarks of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

From Saint-Seurin the cathedral is reached, with its free-standing Pey-Berland tower, and the way continues towards the old quarter. The rue Saint-James, which passes beneath the Grosse Cloche, the former gateway and civic belfry, preserves in its name the memory of the pilgrims passing south.

Bordeaux unfolds its eighteenth-century riverfront along the Garonne, the so-called Port of the Moon, with the Place de la Bourse and its water mirror. The city has an inexhaustible offer of accommodation, gastronomy and wine culture, and is the ideal place for a rest day before embarking on the long crossing of the Landes.